Gilt’s Founder on improving customer engagement and experience

The ecommerce industry is rapidly changing and while some companies are ready to adapt to the evolving customer preferences, most still stumble with understanding their profiles and incorporating strategies that are no longer innovative, but a crucial requirement for the etail environment. Among those, are mobile commerce and social media commerce approaches, omnichannel engagement, and customer experience. At Gilt Groupe, the giant online retailer featuring products for top brands in the market, most of the challenges around those areas have been overcome.

That’s why conference producer Nadia Chaity decided to chat with the company’s Founder, Alexis Maybank, to discuss the ideas behind Gilt’s successful approaches and how the company continues to improve their customer experience and consequently increase customer loyalty and new customer acquisition rates.

We’re excited to have Alexis as one of our keynote speakers at this year’s Etail Show USA, taking place April 8-9 in Atlanta, GA. Free registration to attend the expo, on-floor seminars, and Innovation Showcase is now open – what’ve you got to lose?

About Alexis Maybank
Alexis Maybank has dedicated her career to building innovative and compelling online ecommerce experiences for consumers. In 2007, Alexis and a founding team conceived of and built Gilt, and in doing so, revolutionized the landscape of luxury ecommerce and the way millions of people shop online. As Founding CEO she oversaw all aspects of the company’s development from idea to nearly a million members, in what was one of the fastest periods of hyper growth in the Internet’s history. She built and scaled the team, its site and user experience, its customer acquisition and viral growth, the brand name, and its logistics and distribution. From founding CEO, she has also held the roles of Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Business Development Officer, President, Gilt Home and Kids Divisions and Chief Marketing Officer. Today Gilt has over nine million members and is one of today’s largest ecommerce companies.

Prior to founding Gilt, Alexis in 2004 was General Manager of AOL’s ecommerce businesses. In 1998, she became an early member of the eBay team, where she joined the company’s first strategic planning group led by cofounder Jeff Skoll. She launched and ran eBay Canada in 1999, which became Canada’s largest ecommerce business. She helped found eBay Motors later in 2000, which grew to over $2.5 billion in sales.

Alexis holds a BS and MBA from Harvard. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Springboard Enterprises’ Media/Tech Council. She also serves as Director for National Audubon Society and for Girls Who Code. Alexis was named to Crain’s “40 Under 40”, awarded Ernst and Young’s New York Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame by the DMA and received the Endeavor Entrepreneur of the Year. She has received numerous fashion industry awards and recognition, from the Accessories Council for Retail Innovation to Huffington Post Style Game Changer and Footwear News Achievement Award for eTailer of the Year. She has spoken broadly on the topics of ecommerce, digital marketing, mobile commerce, social media and CRM including at Shop.org, the National Retail Federation Annual Convention, TechCrunch Disrupt, FT Business of Luxury Summit, and many more.

Alexis, together with Gilt co-founder Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, is the author of The New York Times bestseller book, By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop.